We’ve been spending more time in this part of town lately, thanks to the Gotham West Market and a recent Infatuation initiative to uncover more great restaurants in every neighborhood, not just ones that end in the word “village.” And uncover we did. We found this little place The Marshal, and you need to know about it.

The Marshal is a very small restaurant on 10th Avenue, on a picturesque block that’s also home to a huge gas station and a condo building that looks like something a child with poor depth perception built out of Legos. Hell’s Kitchen encapsulated. A friend of ours turned us on to it after he randomly met the owner in a wine shop. We decided to check it out, and it’s definitely the kind of place that would be owned by a guy you’d randomly meet in a wine shop. Everyone at The Marshal is exceptionally friendly. The food also happens to be excellent.

As a matter of fact, The Marshal reminds us a lot of a Hell’s Kitchen version of Upstate Beer & Oyster Bar. Both are great neighborhood restaurants with dedicated regulars, and they both share an appreciation for New York. Nearly everything that The Marshal serves comes from somewhere in our great state and is then cooked in a wood-burning oven. The food is simple and homey - as in the best thing on the menu is meatloaf. It’s exactly the kind of place that we’d visit weekly if we lived nearby, especially if we lived in one of those weird looking condos. Do those things even have kitchens? Or do they just come with an infinity sink and a toaster?

The Marshall is a very seasonal restaurant, so things change often. Here’s an example of what we ate on our most recent visit: